4Disclaimer: Hetalia: Axis Powers is owned by Hidekaz Himaruya. Alice in Wonderland is owned by Lewis Carroll/Disney (elements from both versions are used). Human names are used.
Chapter 1: Down The Rabbit Hole
It was a warm summer's day with the sun smiling down on the green grass and the clouds looking as fluffy as cotton candy. Feliciano was sitting in his grandfather's garden oblivious to the history lesson he was being taught. "The Roman military was the most powerful of its time and carried the empire to fame," Grandpa Romulus expressed with passion. "I've always said that a nation without a strong military shouldn't be a nation at all. A country should always have the men and the weaponry to fight in defense or for glory. Which is why I'm concerned that you aren't taking your training seriously, Feliciano. Don't you want to be strong like your grandpa one day? Feli?" Feliciano was too busy playing with the daisies to listen to his grandfather's lesson. He wore a bright smile as he twisted the stems of the white flora into a crown. "Feli? Feli listen!" Romulus repeated and tugged on his grandson's stray curl to gain his attention. Feliciano turned around and stared at his grandfather lazily until he collected his thoughts.
"I'm sorry, what did you say grandpa?" he finally asked.
Romulus sighed, used to his grandson's behavior, but still not proud of it. "Feli, I only want what is best for you," Romulus said. "This lesson isn't for me to hear my history again, though I love it with all my heart; this is for you to learn from my mistakes and know how to become a great country one day."
"But Grandpa Romulus, I don't want to be a great country one day," Feliciano responded in an annoyed tone. "I just want to be me with all my friends. Ludwig likes me as I am; Kiku does too." He placed his daisy crown on Romulus's chocolate curls and looked at him with a saddened expression.
"And I do too, Feli," He patted his grandson on his back with affection. "I just don't want you to be picked on when I'm not here to protect you anymore."
"But that doesn't mean it will happen. Even when you're gone, I'll have other people to protect me." Feliciano let his smile widen in reassurance and this made Romulus smile back. He patted Feliciano's head.
"My innocent little Feli, I just want you to be well off. If you say that you have friends that will protect you, then I believe you. Nevertheless, I still think you should have a way to defend yourself. Just in case something happens to anybody you care for."
Tears stung at Feliciano's eyes as he thought about his loved ones sick or dying. The tears began to fall. "Oh nothing will happen to you Grandpa Romulus, right? Or Ludwig or Kiku or Lovino or-?
"Of course not! But accidents do happen, Feli," Romulus embraced Feliciano in a tight hug and tried to comfort him. "You might need to protect us one day, and we need to be able to rely on you."
"You can Grandpa Romulus! I promise to protect you if you ever need it." Feliciano tightened the embrace with his grandfather making it almost hard to breathe.
"Ok, little one . Let's continue our lesson. Now the Roman Empire started as a republic, but turned into an empire after Julius Caesar declared himself Dictator for Life…" Feliciano began to doze off from the history lesson again, but didn't forget the moral lesson that Grandpa Romulus taught him.
I will try, Grandpa Romulus, to protect the ones I love.
Suddenly, a rabbit with pink eyes ran close by Feliciano. Well, he was dressed like a rabbit, with two snow white bunny ears on his head and a fluffy bunny tail on his behind, but the rest of the man's body resembled Roderich, Feliciano's old slave own- erm- caretaker. "Oh my. Oh dear! I shall be too late! The King will surely have my head if I don't hurry." Roderich-bunny said anxiously. He took a large watch out of the pocket of his waistcoat, examined it thoroughly, and ran off to whatever he was late for. Feliciano found it very curious that his old owner had this odd costume on, so he got to his feet and chased after the bunny man.
"Mr. Roderich, what are you late for? Mr. Roderich!" Feliciano called, but Mr. Roderich-bunny didn't respond. He chased Roderich-bunny past the garden, to a nearby bush, and arrived in time to see him pop down a large rabbit hole under the bush. "Mr. Roderich, are you in there?" Feliciano called into the hole. There was no response. He got on all fours and crawled into the large rabbit hole. It was very much like a tunnel, dark, ominous, and very dirty. "I really shouldn't be doing this," Feliciano said to himself. "I wasn't invited to wherever Mr. Roderich is going to, but he might need help. He does seem pretty worried." Feliciano crawled and crawled and it seemed like the tunnel would never end. "It's really dark in here," Feliciano continued. "And kind of creepy. I hope this tunnel will end sooooon!"
Feliciano got his wish, for now he was tumbling down the large hole. He let out a long scream, but it soon died out when he realized that he wasn't falling exactly but slowly floating down an abyss. "It's still dark though. Oh!" On the left side of the rabbit hole was a light switch, which Feliciano switched on promptly when he saw it. The hole became filled with colored light now, but the colors kept shifting and changing, from red to orange to blue to purple to every color in between. Feliciano took in his surroundings and saw shelves filled with books, knick-knacks, and kitchen supplies. "Ve~ I wonder how all these things got here. It must have taken a lot of work." He espied a pasta bowl on a cupboard and excitedly picked it up, but to his boundless disappoint, the bowl was empty. He sadly placed the bowl back on another shelf, for he was afraid that if he just dropped the bowl it would hit someone who was below and severely hurt him/her. "I wonder how long I've been falling." Feliciano continued to himself trying to break the silence. "Maybe I will fall right through the EARTH!" For a couple of seconds, gravity took full force on Feliciano and made him fall at great speed. Luckily, the floating commenced shortly after. "Then I will be among the people that walk on their heads." Feliciano kept floating down, down, down and he soon began talking to himself again. "I'm getting tired of falling. At this rate, I will never find Mr. Roderich again and see what he is late for. I really hope this ends soon. I wish there could be someone to be with me right now." Feliciano thought back to Grandpa Romulus and how he will be worried about his grandson's absence; if Feliciano just had paid attention to the history lesson and not have had been so reckless in the first place, he wouldn't be in such an odd situation alone. Tears pricked Feliciano's eyes, but he held them back. Gravity picked up again, but this time it didn't slow down until Feliciano hit the stone hard floor. "Oww. That really hurt." he remarked as he rubbed the sore spots on his dazed form. Feliciano was a little bruised by the fall, but other than that, he was fine. He looked around and noted that he had somehow fallen into an odd hallway.
"Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" Out of nowhere, Roderich-bunny came running and passed Feliciano without a second thought. Feliciano forgot about his pain, jumped up quickly, and chased the rabbit down the long hallway.
"Wait, Mr. Roderich!" Feliciano cried while running as fast as he could. The hallway was long and winding, making it very difficult to turn without bumping into the walls. The floor didn't help with this issue either, being scrubbed and waxed to a bleached, slippery gleam. The walls were painted red, white, and black in a checkerboard pattern. The ceiling was low and oddly very filthy, with dirt and dust clinging on the tiny chandeliers that lined the hall. Finally, the chase ended with Roderich-bunny entering through a wooden door at the end of the hallway. Feliciano automatically opened the door and entered a circular room filled with doors of all types, made of different materials, and formed in different shapes. However, the rabbit-man was nowhere to be seen. "Where did Mr. Roderich go?" Feliciano inquired to no one in particular. He tried to open any door he could get his hands on, but they were all locked. "Now where am I going to go?" the Italian asked in defeat. Feliciano flopped down on the floor and began to mope.
"Ah, don't be sad monsieur." said a voice, but Feliciano couldn't identify the source.
"Who's there? Where are you?"
Translations (these could be incorrect and I apologize if they are)
monsieur: Mister/Sir